Will the Hornets become the Sonics? And why we should care.

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One of the many reasons I believe Dino Rossi lost was his stupidity about using taxpayer dollars to build the Sonic franchise a palace... to play basketball.

The voters of Seattle made it clear that they did not want taxpayer dollars used for that purpose. And then along comes Rossi:

Sonics supporters who are critical of leading Democrats for refusing to authorize $75 million in King County taxes for KeyArena this year say it's a huge missed opportunity for the region.

"No one, including myself, wants to see the Sonics leave Seattle," Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi said. "We all have been waiting for a viable public-private plan to renovate KeyArena and keep the team here. Last Thursday, we got that plan."

And that's why this is an issue:

Report: NBA to take over Hornets; Seattle on horizon?

According to a report from ESPN.com, the NBA is set to assume control of the New Orleans Hornets.

Steve
Ballmer

Is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in line to take over the team?

The report said that longtime owner George Shinn's attempt to sell the team to minority partner Gary Chouest has collapsed. The league is now working on purchasing operational control of the team, similar to the arrangement Major League Baseball had with the Montreal Expos before the team was sold and moved to Washington, D.C.

A formal announcement on the ownership change is expected this week.

The ESPN story quoted an unnamed source who said the league's hope is to find new ownership that will keep the team in New Orleans.

However, the story said the league will place priority on the strength of prospective ownership, and not simply on keeping the NBA in Louisiana.

The story cited an unnamed source who said Seattle, Kansas City and Anaheim are potential markets if the team moves.

Ballmer created a flurry of speculation when he recently sold about $1.4 billion in Microsoft stock.

Rumors immediately started swirling that Ballmer intended to buy the Sacramento Kings and move the team to Seattle. But Kings owner Joe Maloof shot those rumors down, saying he has "never met Mr. Ballmer, we've had no contact with him and the team is not for sale."

More:

Is there any doubt that part of the deal will involve 10's of millions of taxpayer dollars?

Not for professional sports, it shouldn't.
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